


And they were roommates!

by Arwen88



Category: Band of Brothers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Drunk Texting, Drunken Confessions, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Jealousy, M/M, Roommates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:15:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21959479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arwen88/pseuds/Arwen88
Summary: "I was thinking..." he started, grinning when Dick barely hummed, highlighting a passage in his notes. "If I ever wanted a friend with benefits, would you be that for me?" He smiled, knowing Dick wouldn't be bothered by his joke. "Because online dating looks like too much work, and I don't feel like leaving the house," he explained with a light chuckle, waving at Dick with his bottle even though the other man still hadn’t looked up from his book. "And you're already inside the house."Dick only turned a page of his book, not even looking up at him. "A-plus for your romanticism, Lew, a man could die from something so sweet," he droned with a flat tone.
Relationships: Lewis Nixon & Richard Winters, Lewis Nixon/Richard Winters
Comments: 6
Kudos: 77
Collections: Loose Lips Sink Ships Prompt Meme





	And they were roommates!

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Zippit](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zippit/gifts).



> Thanks to ThrillingDetectiveTales for betareading this, and fiorediloto for helping me build this fic <3
> 
> For Zippit, who is great and betareaded soooo many words! <3 Merry Christmas, honey!

Lewis padded out of his room to get to the kitchen and grabbed a beer from the fridge.

After hours with his ass on a chair and his head in a book, he felt like he either needed to get at least tipsy before going on or kill the incompetent author of his textbook, who clearly had no idea how to explain stuff in a chronological order.

Lewis stepped up to his roommate's open door and leaned against it, lifting his beer. "Hey, Dick, do you want a beer?"

Dick didn't even bother looking up, keeping on reading alternatively his book and his notes on the lesson about it. "You know I don't drink," he reminded his long time friend.

"That's why I offer," Lewis mumbled scratching at his beard, starting to consider whether it would be a good moment to shave it or if it could be postponed a little longer.

He brought his gaze over to his best friend, sitting on his bed with his legs crossed, books on his lap, and Lewis couldn't help a little smile that he tried to cover sipping at his beer.

They had met when Lewis had moved in town to start college, a friend of a friend telling him there was a guy searching for a new roommate to share the rent with after the previous one had moved out.

Since then, they had somehow become the best of friends. No matter how different they were from each other in some aspects they always managed to be on the same page when it truly mattered.

"I was thinking..." he started, grinning when Dick barely hummed, highlighting a passage in his notes. "If I ever wanted a friend with benefits, would you be that for me?" He smiled, knowing Dick wouldn't be bothered by his joke. "Because online dating looks like too much work, and I don't feel like leaving the house," he explained with a light chuckle, waving at Dick with his bottle even though the other man still hadn’t looked up from his book. "And you're already inside the house."

Dick only turned a page of his book, not even looking up at him. "A-plus for your romanticism, Lew, a man could die from something so sweet," he droned with a flat tone.

Lewis chuckled, tilting his head. "I know, you should call me Don Juan."

Dick snorted softly, a little smile curling at his lips, and Lewis stepped back from the door with a proud grin, happy to have managed at least that.

"Lew, you need to shower and shave, in that order." Dick's voice reached him in the hallway, and Lewis sighed as he stopped to look at his reflection in the mirror.

"Yeah, I know, I know. But until finals next week you're the only one that's gonna see me. And you already know I stink."

He didn't think much about the silence from Dick's room, busy considering the actual length of his beard and how Dick was probably right about it.

"I'm going out tonight," Dick informed him, a strange tone in his voice that Lewis ignored for the moment, thinking nothing of it.

"Is it today that conference you wanted to go to?"

"No, I'm going out with DeEtta."

Lewis stilled, staring at his reflection in the mirror with something akin to fear suddenly squeezing at his stomach.

He thought about DeEtta, one of Dick's colleagues, a pretty one that was also really smart, probably exactly Dick's type of girl.

There was no reason for Lewis to complain about Dick going out, and yet he found himself frowning at the door, his stomach heavy and a million stupid reasons for Dick to not date that girl sprouting in his brain.

Not that any of them sounded intelligent or mature, every one making him grimace at how much he sounded like a needy teenager full of drama but with one single brain cell.

Lewis swallowed in the silence that had filled the apartment, and forced himself to go back to Dick's room and peek inside at his friend.

Dick was staring a little too intensely at his books, his knuckles white where he gripped his pen and his ears flushed red. But it was the fact that he didn't look up, his face completely hidden by the way he had ducked his head, that made Lewis step inside.

There was no mistaking the taut line of his shoulders, and Lewis slowly sat on the edge of the bed, trying to think of something to say.

"I remember she had a crush on you."

Dick shrugged, but didn't look up, and for a moment Lewis was seriously tempted to reach out and make him lift his head, needing to meet his gaze and see how serious he was. Maybe Dick had had a crush on her for a while but never told him, or maybe it wasn't really anything serious. Though Dick didn't usually date, to the best of Lewis' knowledge, so it had to be something at least a little bit serious.

"She's nice." Dick bit his bottom lip, playing with his pen, and only then he threw a glance at Lewis, his cheeks flushing red under his friend's gaze. "I need more than friends in my life, Lew," he added with a thin voice that almost sounded like a prayer to Lewis' ears.

Lewis wasn't sure if Dick feared he would laugh at him, or at least not understand why he would need more, but he nodded his head. It really didn't matter that he had held a flame for his best friend for the longest time, he told himself. He could stand back and cheer Dick on as he looked for a girlfriend, no matter how the thought of losing him made Lewis wilt inside.

He reached out and wrapped his fingers around one of Dick's calves, squeezing softly.

"I know," he murmured, wondering if at least in one universe there existed the chance that Dick would look at him and want more.

***

The company of DeEtta's friends was terribly good. They were smart, funny people that didn't push Dick into talking when he didn't feel like it. They didn't stop including him just because he wasn't the most talkative person when he still didn't know somebody too well.

But no matter how much fun he was having, Dick couldn't help but feel a little guilty about the lie he had told Lewis before going out.

It didn't seem to matter how much Dick was in love with Lewis, always trying to find ways to make the man see it. Apparently his signs were always too subtle for Lewis to pick up on, no matter how he sometimes would look at Dick as if he hung the stars in the sky. Dick could feel his heart grow a couple sizes every time he caught that look on his friend's face, like when he would ditch others to just hang with him.

It somehow never translated in Lewis taking a step closer and actually admitting to his feelings.

Dick wasn't really sure by then if he had mistaken too many signs, and every time he had thought Lewis might have returned his feelings it was, in fact, just him being too hopeful on the subject.

After three years living with Lewis, Dick had followed DeEtta’s advice and decided to try and shake his best friend and roommate with the chance of Dick dating someone and actually finding a partner.

She was quite sure that Lewis only needed a little push to tell Dick what he felt. Dick wasn't as sure as DeEtta was, considering the possibility that Lewis might have loved him just like a brother or a best friend instead instead.

He pulled his cellphone out of his pocket to check it and suddenly he felt as if he had received a cold shower at the three messages from Lewis on his display more than half an hour before.

Dick disconnected from everybody around him, rapidly scrolling through the picture of their washing machine and the increasingly frustrated messages from his friend, asking where was he supposed to put the softener out of all those holes.

It was stupid, Dick reckoned, and yet he found himself smiling and shaking his head affectionately that Lewis was actually attempting to do the laundry instead of waiting for him. It would probably have been enough to answer with a text, no matter how much he was suddenly taken by the pressing need to go back and see Lewis, spend time with him instead.

Logically, Dick knew that if Lewis had mistaken where to put the softener it was already done and unfixable, same as he knew that he couldn't really say "I'm sorry but I want to go home and check on my friend" as a reason to leave. It didn't really stop him from saying some dumb lie about having to study, no matter if DeEtta gave him a knowing smile that had him blushing and babbling more.

Dick wasn't all that surprised to find Lewis dozing off on the couch in front of the TV, but he had to turn around to hide his smile when Lewis woke him with a jolt at hearing his movements.

"What- Dick? What time is it?" Lewis rubbed one hand over his face, and Dick cleared his throat, glancing at the clock.

"A quarter to midnight."

"You're in early," Lewis considered, sitting up on the couch and studying him despite his sleepy appearance, black hair mussed by the pillow and a mark on his cheek where he must have pressed against a button.

"Doesn’t feel like it," Dick shrugged, trying to push down his guilt for the lie he was telling his friend.

He tried not to look too closely at the grin tugging at Lewis' lips, or give too much significance to the way his friend leaned in close when Dick sat on the couch beside him.

"She wasn't like you expected?"

Dick sighed and rolled his eyes, shaking his head for good measure. "She's great, thank you so much. I'm just not used to staying out late." He glanced back at Lewis in time to see the moony eyes he was giving him, clearly happy that Dick was back no matter what he was saying.

"Ditch her if she ain't more than 'good.' You deserve better." Lewis reached out to give a couple of pats to Dick's knee, relaxing against the cushions beside him with a contented sigh.

"Lew," Dick warned, though the smile he couldn’t contain probably tempered the sting of his words.

"I mean it, Dick," Lewis murmured, gently squeezing his knee. For a moment Dick wanted nothing else but for his friend not to pull away. "You're the best, girls should be fighting over you."

"Now," Dick sighed, feeling heat rise to his face as he was hit by a wave of embarrassment. He tilted his head, throwing a glance at Lewis. "If I were all that shouldn't I have a line outside the door?" he asked softly. "Instead, I’ve just got you," Dick whispered, meeting Lewis' gaze. Not for the first time he wondered how his friend couldn’t see how much Dick loved him, how he was only waiting for Lewis to say something.

Lewis kept silent for long seconds, searching Dick's face for something, and in the end he cracked a smile. "Well, I am kind of a big deal."

They couldn't help but chuckle at that, and Dick managed to push down every doubt he had as Lewis grabbed the remote, already talking about what movie he was watching and how he had been waiting for Dick to come back to show him some scenes.

It was easy, comfortable, and so close to what Dick truly wanted that it was both the best and worst thing in his life.

***

Dick had been out on his second date with DeEtta for less than two hours when Lewis stopped restraining himself in his boredom and frustration and grabbed his phone to text him.

He didn't really expect Dick to answer him, but he couldn't help grinning when his phone buzzed not a minute after.

He sent Dick a "The food in the fridge isn’t pizza" and chuckled to himself, satisfied that at least Dick had spared the time to answer him while out with DeEtta.

It was petty, he knew it, but no small part of him was hoping hard that Dick would see he deserved more than that girl, even though Lewis knew he was doing her a disservice at thinking along those lines, well aware she was a great girl. Probably better than he was anyway.

As he stared at the TV in front of him, Lewis thought deeply about how Dick had been looking at him before he left the house, almost as if he hoped Lewis would give him a good reason not to.

Lewis couldn't be sure if he had read it right and his friend was looking for a reason to stay in or if Lewis was projecting his wishes on Dick. Lewis was fairly sure that Dick could do much better than him, find someone able to see how amazing Dick was without dragging him down with issues.

He was eating chips on the couch no more than an hour after sending his texts, when he was surprised by the sound of keys turning in the lock and he grabbed the first thing to go check who that was.

He was almost more surprised to see that it wasn't some burglar trying to get in, but his roommate with a giant pizza box in his hands.

They stilled, staring at each other. Dick looked him up and down, focusing for a moment on the bat in Lewis' hands before looking him in the eyes. "Really?"

"Thought you wouldn't be back for hours." Lewis dropped the bat in a corner before taking the box from Dick's hands, inhaling happily the scent coming off it, and only then he stopped to stare at Dick. "You came back. With pizza. Why did you come back?"

Dick snorted and shook his head with a half deprecatory smile, and Lewis was suddenly struck by why Dick had come back.

"Can't believe you came back," Lewis murmured disbelieving.

Dick simply shrugged, clearing his throat as he looked away and hung his coat. "Yeah, well- it seemed wrong to stay out for dinner while you were sitting hungry at home."

Lewis couldn't help but grin up at him, his brain suddenly catching up with the fact that Dick had bailed on his dates to come back to him twice now. A part of him told him he shouldn't be so excited about it, but then again he was filled with a warm happiness for the fact that Dick still liked him more than that girl.

"My hero." He smiled at Dick before taking the pizza to the couch, his mind running a mile a minute.

For the first time he was actually considering the chance that maybe Dick actually preferred him, that if Dick kept coming back to him, maybe it was because Lewis mattered to him more than any girl who might have swept him off his feet.

He threw a glance at Dick when they settled in front of the TV, noticing how he forcefully stared ahead. He purposefully pressed his shoulder against Dick's when he leaned in to get a slice of pizza, making sure to stay pressed against him even after they were both leaning back.

This time there was no mistaking the little smile on Dick's lips as he watched the movie.

***

Lewis showered and shaved, in that order, then he dressed with more care than grabbing the first thing from his pile of clean clothes.

He was aware that it was the minimum for normal people, but he hoped Dick would appreciate his effort when he knocked at his friend’s door.

Lewis couldn't hold back a proud grin when Dick smiled openly at seeing him without a beard.

"Hey, looking good," Dick complimented him, and Lewis lifted one shoulder in a half-hearted shrug as he leaned nonchalantly against the doorframe. "Are you going somewhere?"

"Yeah, was thinking about going out for a drink or something." He shook his head a bit, staring at Dick's chest for a moment before he tried to put himself out there and rose his eyes to meet Dick’s gaze. "You coming?"

He grimaced internally at how casual he had managed to make it sound, which was kind of the opposite of what he meant. Not a second later, though, he felt he knew what Dick's answer would be, judging by how the smile dropped from his friend's face.

"We can get ice cream on the way," he added in a hurry, still smiling despite the sinking feeling in his stomach.

"Can't," Dick murmured, looking none the happier. "Told DeEtta I was meeting her tonight."

"Oh." Lewis nodded his head slowly, trying his best to not look too disappointed, though he knew he couldn't truly mask himself from Dick.

He felt stupid all of a sudden, his stomach churning with the evidence that of course it didn't matter if he asked Dick out, Dick would never prefer him over someone he was dating. Dick didn't see him as more than a friend and probably never would.

A part of him told him he was exaggerating, but at the same time he couldn't stop his mind from spiralling down that path.

"Again?" he asked trying to sound nonchalant about it, cringing at how his voice came out.

"Yeah..." Dick nodded, looking uncomfortable himself.

Lewis shuffled on his feet, scratching one arm to try and do something with his hands. "She must be something."

Dick shrugged and turned around, stepping closer to the bed over which Lewis could now see a couple shirts and a sweater, Dick clearly uncertain about what to wear for the evening.

Lewis looked at the clothes for a moment before he stepped inside Dick's room.

"I mean, she's not perfect," Dick murmured, staring a touch too intensely at his clothes.

Lewis hummed softly, shoving his hands deep in his jeans pockets. "Nobody is perfect. Aside from maybe you." He cracked a smile, trying to lighten the mood.

Dick snorted, looking more sad than Lewis thought the situation called for, unless Lewis was truly the worst at hiding his displeasure.

"I'm not. I mess up just like everybody else."

Lewis sighed, tearing his eyes off his friend. "Yeah, tell me about it," he mumbled, convinced he had tried too little too late and had managed to lose his friend without even trying.

He had waited and waited, convinced Dick wouldn’t be interested, hoping at least to keep spending time with Dick and stay close to him, only to understand too late that with a partner in his life his friend wouldn't have all that much time to give him. And then he had absurdly hoped that Dick might have actually come back home to him because he preferred him to DeEtta.

He couldn't blame Dick for his heartache, nor DeEtta, only his own stupidity. He hoped she was better for Dick than he would have been.

Lewis looked at the open closet and stepped up to it, picking up a shirt to offer his friend.

Dick snorted at his choice, but he seemed to at least find his smile again. "Are you trying to derail my date before it even happens?" he asked lightly but he took the shirt anyway. "Buying this was a mistake and you know it."

Lewis shrugged, passing his gaze from the pink cotton to the red of his friend's hair. The colors clashed, Dick was right. He had probably been high on something the day he had bought that shirt, but Lewis kinda liked seeing him wear it.

"If DeEtta is the right one she's gonna like you even dressed in rags."

Dick turned away to lay the shirt between the others on his bed, but Lewis didn't miss the frown pulling at his brows. "What if there is no right one?"

Lewis couldn't understand where all that sadness was coming from. He found himself shaking his head before Dick had even finished asking.

"Shut up, of course there is. I mean, you have no vices, and no sense of humor, but there must be somebody out there for you." He cracked a smile, hoping to lift Dick's spirit, only to watch his friend turn an almost imploring gaze on him all of a sudden.

"Lew..."

Lewis would have paid all his money to know what the problem was, how to fix it, but he couldn't do more than open his arms and let his shoulders drop.

"Stay in," he found himself asking before he could think better of it.

Dick shook his head right away, always the righteous man. "I don't like going back on my word, you know that."

"I know," Lewis murmured, not really knowing what to say or do anymore.

He reached out and brushed his fingers over Dick's elbow before turning and leaving the room in silence, feeling stupid and dejected.

Grabbing a beer from the kitchen seemed the best idea at the moment, and Lewis just went for it.

***

Dick frowned at the text Lewis had sent him and answered him with three question marks. He expected his friend to get back to him right away, but it wasn't until half an hour letter that Lewis wrote him again.

Dick frowned harder at his phone, trying to understand if Lewis could have written to the wrong person or if he was too drunk to spell properly.

"coldd"

Dick sighed, shuffling in his seat and trying not to show he wasn't really paying attention to what was going on around him or what the guys were telling him.

"Lew, call a cab and go home if you're not having fun"

Whether Dick wanted to or not, he couldn't stop thinking about the exchange as the minutes stretched, his mind running time and time again to Lewis needing help in some bar. Not for the first time that night, he couldn't help but feel stupid for not accepting Lewis' invitation. He could have spent the whole night with him, maybe stopped him from drunk texting someone since Dick would have been there to help him home already. But what he had told his friend was true. He hated going back on his word.

He stretched a smile when DeEtta threw him a glance, and nodded a bit. He was pretty sure she knew exactly how much he would have preferred to be elsewhere by then, quite convinced that anyone could read on his face how distracted he was.

He almost jumped when his phone started trilling, and he hurried to take the call when he saw Lew’s name on the display.

"Lew?"

Lewis' voice came slurred from the other side of the connection.

"Cab guy hung up on me, Dick..." Lewis sounded both utterly desperate and drunk off his ass, and Dick started worrying even more.

"Hung up?" he asked to be sure, starting looking around for his jacket, not caring a bit about staying longer with DeEtta and her friends if Lewis was in need of help.

"Yeah, that."

"What did you tell him?"

"To ask you to tell him where I'm at."

Dick blinked, stopping for a moment. "Lew, I don't know where you are. Where are you?"

"I don't know," Lewis sniffed, whining softly in a way Dick knew he would have never done if he wasn't so drunk.

Dick shrugged his jacket on without moving the phone from his ear. "I'm coming to pick you up. What's the last place you remember being?"

Lewis hesitated on the other side of the line, and Dick took the chance to wave goodbye to everybody before hurrying out. "Lew?" he called worriedly ,after the silence stretched a little too long. "Where were you, the last time you remember?"

"My room?" Lewis offered, not sounding too sure. "The kitchen."

Dick stopped in his tracks for a moment before starting once more, hoping his hunch was right. "Are you still in the house, Lew?"

"I don't know," Lewis whined softly, and Dick pressed his lips in a tight line, displeased to hear Lewis in that state and even more for how worried Lewis was able to make him.

"I'm coming home to see if you're there, alright?" he reassured Lewis, speaking in a soothing voice, and hurried when Lewis gave no answer, worried sick when he heard the sound of Lewis' snore.

***

Dick followed Lewis' voice to their bathroom. He was still talking into the phone even though the call had dropped halfway through Dick’s drive back home. Dick finally felt like breathing again when he pushed open the bathroom door to find a drunk Lewis sitting in the empty bathtub, fully clothed and with the window open to let the chilly winter air in.

Lewis’ eyes grew round in surprise at seeing Dick at the door, his mouth falling open. After a moment he started trying without much success to climb out of the tub.

“You found me, Dick!”

“Of course,” Dick mumbled soothingly, stepping closer to grab his friend and help him out, staggering under Lewis’ weight and the way he flailed and grabbed hard at Dick’s jacket.

He knew what was coming, but he couldn’t hold back a sigh anyway when Lewis hugged him tight as soon as he got both feet on the floor, pushing Dick a step back in his enthusiasm.

“Oh, Lew,” Dick said softly, rubbing his friend’s back while Lewis attempted to push his face against Dick’s neck.

“I love you,” Lewis mumbled against his scarf, squeezing him in his arms.

Dick felt the familiar bite in his stomach when Lewis said those words to him. “You always say that when you’re drunk,” he reminded him gently, happy Lewis wasn’t in danger, just drunk enough not to recognize where he was.

“Because I love you!” Lewis repeated with strength.

“Yeah, but you never say it when you’re sober,” Dick murmured with a hint of bitterness in his voice, wishing with all of his heart that for once Lewis would remember what he said the morning after. At least that might open up a conversation about the subject feelings between the two of them.

“That’s because sober me is an idiot.” Lewis snorted, lifting his face from Dick’s scarf to look him in the eyes. “I love you.”

“I know,” Dick whispered, his stomach in knots at hearing those words time and time again, not knowing if Lewis truly meant them or if it was just because of his drunk, cuddly mood. “I’ll make you some coffee and put you to bed.”

***

Lewis woke up with a potent migraine, feeling like he’d eaten a dead rat, and he rushed to stumble out of bed and puke up half his soul in the bathroom.

It took him most of an hour to feel like a normal human being once more, but it wasn’t until after his second coffee that he noticed the glass of water on his bedside table. He started considering the chance that Dick might have been in his room the night before to take care of him.

Every thought of going to see if Dick was in the house, to thank him, vanished when Lewis found the drunk texts on his phone. He was hit by a wave of shame.

It was easy to understand that he had stupidly tried to get Dick’s attention, to distract him from his date.

He couldn’t remember a thing from the previous night, but their phone call had lasted around ten minutes. It wasn’t too much of a stretch to assume that Lewis had all the time in the world to make a fool of himself, probably begging Dick to come back home.

He hid under his covers, feeling ashamed and stupid, even more pathetic than the previous day.

He was debating with himself whether to stay in his bed for the rest of his life, or at least until the holidays rolled around and Dick would return to his family for Christmas, when a knock at the door made him almost jump out of his skin.

“What?”

He heard the creak of the door opening, and could guess even without looking that Dick was watching him. “Are you going to eat anything today?”

Lewis pushed the blankets away and stared in silence where Dick was standing at the door so long that Dick arched one eyebrow at him. “Did you come back home for me yesterday?”

Dick visibly hesitated, but then he nodded his head. Lewis felt like an ass, despite the little feeling unfurling in his stomach.

“I’m sorry.”

Dick’s features smoothed and he cracked a smile. “Couldn’t leave you hanging dry in an empty bathtub.”

Lewis frowned, but then he shook his head. “‘m not really hungry.”

Dick nodded vaguely and stepped back, but before he could close the door Lewis had the time to see the smile on Dick’s lips slipping away. He felt even more like an ass at knowing that he was probably the only reason their friendship was on the rocks.

***

Dick looked up from the book he was reading in bed when Lewis slipped inside his room. He looked way better than he had that morning, though still under the weather. Dick didn’t like the black smudges under Lewis’ eyes, but it wasn’t like he could tell his friend to quit drinking.

“How do you feel?”

Lewis nodded, not meeting his gaze. He stepped closer to the bed and waved at Dick to scoot over.

Dick shuffled under the bedcovers, making space, and internally rejoiced for the close proximity when Lewis sat beside him, their sides and arms pressed together. It was obvious that Lewis was looking for closeness even though he wouldn’t meet Dick’s gaze yet.

“Lew?” he called softly when Lewis still wouldn’t look at him, even though he grabbed the first piece of paper from the bedside table to put it between the pages of Dick’s book.

Dick didn’t fight it when Lewis took the book away from him and left it on the bedside table. He was aware that most of the stuff they did around each other wasn’t exactly the usual type of thing one would do with a friend, but he was at the end of his rope with Lewis never admitting it, no matter what he did. He watched Lewis stare ahead, both of them empty handed, and he started growing worried at Lewis’ silence and frown.

“There is a person I have a crush on,” Lewis started, and for a moment Dick stopped breathing, his heart in his throat. “But I’m afraid to tell them. I’m afraid to lose the friendship we already have,” Lewis murmured, not meeting his gaze.

Dick forced himself to inhale and exhale slowly, overly conscious of the comforting pressure of Lewis’ body against him. “Tell them,” he whispered.

Lewis turned a fraction, looking at him from the corner of his eye, and Dick was almost tempted to grab his arm to force him to look him in the eyes.

“Tell them, Lew…” he almost begged, no matter how much he feared that Lewis might have been talking about someone else.

Lewis sighed deeply beside him, not looking entirely convinced. He reached out between them and gently took Dick’s hand in his own, slowly sliding them together until they were pressed palm to palm.

Dick could barely breathe, staring at Lewis’ hand against his own. He squeezed when Lewis entwined their fingers.

Dick closed his eyes briefly, trying not to let his emotions get the best of him while since Lewis kept silent, squeezing his hand back but refusing to say who the person he loved was. Dick could see Lewis’ torn look, his face flushed red. He tilted his head, gently reclining on Lewis’ shoulder.

There was nothing more he wanted than to hear Lewis say he loved him, and yet the more time passed the more he feared Lewis would tell him he was in love with some girl from his class, or that Dick should go ahead and be happy with DeEtta.

He closed his eyes when he felt Lewis press his chin over the top of his head. A moment later a sigh escaped him when he felt a kiss against his hair, his friend breathing with his nose in Dick’s hair before he pressed another kiss to it.

“Lew,” he called softly, waiting for Lewis to lift his head enough to let Dick tilt his head up for a kiss.

Lewis kissed him gently, almost hesitantly, and they stopped to look at each other between kisses, trying to convince themselves the other truly wanted it.

It was all Dick had ever desired, and soon they started pressing against each other more Lewis reached out with his free hand to gently brush the tips of his fingers over Dick’s face, cupping his cheek almost as if he feared Dick would pull away.

“Tell me,” Dick whispered over his lips, rubbing slow circles with his thumb on the back of Lewis’ hand.

“I love you,” Lewis admitted softly, squeezing his hand even if he still looked almost disbelievingly at Dick. He moved his free hand, brushing the tips of his fingers over the curve of Dick’s eyebrow. “I love you.”

Dick sighed deeply, cracking a smile. “Say it’s not just because I’m in the house.”

That was enough to make Lewis snort and chuckle softly, shaking his head at Dick’s words. “God, no.” He seemed to relax at the joke, a smile on his lips when he finally met Dick’s eyes. “We could date. I’d like to. Anything you want… just say you’ll give me a chance,” he almost begged, looking a tad desperate.

Dick couldn’t stand seeing Lewis like this. He found himself nodding even before Lewis had finished speaking. “I want you, Lew. I want you and I want to go out with you, not just be your friend,” he admitted in turn, squeezing Lewis’s hand.

Lewis looked indescribably relieved. He beamed up at Dick before leaning in to go back to kiss him, and Dick was more than happy to return his kisses. He started tugging at the bedcovers in hope Lewis would slip under them to finally be able to hug him properly.

He almost melted against Lewis when his friend finally joined him under the bedcovers, the two of them trying to fit beside one another in the narrow bed. It was a tight fit but Dick wouldn’t have changed a bit of it.

Not now that he knew Lewis loved him, now that he was in the arms of the man he loved in return.


End file.
